- Moscow, Kyiv regime “exchange drone strikes on energy grids” in New Year attacks
Source: Independent Institute
“Ukraine and Russia exchanged drone strikes on each other’s energy grids as the New Year began, according to local officials. Ukrainian drones on Thursday struck an energy storage facility in the Russian city of Almetyevsk, causing a fire that has since been extinguished, Russian media cited the press service of the local governor as saying. Ukraine’s military said on Thursday it had hit Russia’s Ilsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region overnight, as well as the Almetevskaya oil preparation facility in Russia’s Tatarstan region. Meanwhile, a Russian drone attack damaged power infrastructure in several Ukrainian regions overnight, Ukraine’s energy ministry said on Thursday.” (01/01/26)
- NYC: Mamdani sworn in as mayor
Source: The Hill
“Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist and former New York State Assemblyman whose star quickly rose over the last year, was sworn in as New York City mayor early Thursday. Mamdani was sworn in as the 112th mayor of the country’s largest city during a ceremony at an abandoned subway station near City Hall in Manhattan. The first Muslim to serve as New York City mayor, Mamdani took the oath while putting his hand on two different Qurans. The Qurans previously belonged to Puerto Rican historian Arturo Schomburg and Mamdani’s grandfather, according to The New York Times. … Mamdani shocked the political world after he defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor in June, leaning heavily into the issue of affordability on the campaign trail.” (01/01/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5668998-zohran-mamdani-sworn-in/
- If Europe Confronts Russia, It Should Pay the Costs
Source: The American Conservative
by Doug Bandow“Europe has obvious reason to be concerned about Russia’s operations. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys cited the recent explosion damaging a Polish train line to Ukraine as a dangerous ‘escalation’ by Russia: ‘we should address it really seriously because we are minutes from big casualties here.’ Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski declared, ‘This time, it was not just sabotage, as before, but an act of state terrorism, as the clear intention was to cause human casualties.’ However, this is precisely what the allies intend with their aid to Kiev. To kill Russians, lots of them. … Although American sympathies should be with the Ukrainian people, the United States has little at stake in the ongoing war.” (01/01/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/if-europe-confronts-russia-it-should-pay-the-costs/
- The National-Security Exception to Free Trade Is Real. So Are Its Tradeoffs.
Source: The Daily Economy
by Donald J Boudreaux“Today’s economic interdependence makes it surprisingly difficult to know when trade restrictions actually strengthen security — and when they backfire.” (01/01/26)
- Betty Boop Enters the Public Domain, but Only as a Dog
Source: Reason
by Joe Lancaster“Betty Boop is one of the most iconic cartoons of the 20th century. A pinup drawn to look like a 1920s flapper, the character debuted nearly a century ago and quickly became a household name: In 1932, just two years after her debut, one newspaper article dubbed Betty Boop ‘without question … the most popular film personage on the screen today.’ Today, the character enters the public domain, meaning it’s free for anyone to use — but perhaps only as a dog. The bizarre saga illustrates what’s wrong with modern copyright law.” (01/01/26)
https://reason.com/2026/01/01/betty-boop-enters-the-public-domain-but-only-as-a-dog/
- The Russian Idée Fixe
Source: CounterPunch
by Andriy Movchan“‘Russia’s defensive war against NATO expansion’ — a concept that has become almost axiomatic for many Western leftists. This concept conveniently serves both to rationalize Russia’s actions and to radicalize criticism of their own governments. But what role does Putin himself assign to the supposed NATO threat? A close reading of his key speeches reveals that Putin explicitly denies any danger of a NATO attack on Russia. Instead, all the ruler’s attention and passion are focused elsewhere — on the question of primordial ‘historical justice.’ Putin dusts off millennia-old chronicles, finding in them proof of his reactionary utopia, his imagined historical right to possess Ukraine. Let’s talk about the most underestimated cause of this war — ideological obsession. The Russian idée fixe.” (01/01/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/01/01/the-russian-idee-fixe/